This week we’re taking a dive into the musical theatre mind of Burt Bacharach. This week’s TONY Tuesday is: 

‘Turkey Lurkey Time’ from Promises, Promises at the 1969 TONY Awards Ceremony. 

Promises, Promises is a 1968 musical with music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David and a book by Neil Simon. The musical is an adaptation of the film The Apartment, which sees a young executive at an insurance company attempt to climb the ladder by allowing his married superiors to use his apartments to conduct their affairs. The title song from the show and ‘I’ll Never Fall in Love Again’ became hits after they were recorded and released by Dionne Warwick. 

The show tried out in Washington D.C and Boston before making the transfer to Broadway’s Shubert Theatre, opening on 1 December 1968. The musical was directed by Robert Moore, with choreography by Michael Bennett, assisted by Bob Avian. The opening night cast included Jerry Orbach as Chuck Baxter, Jill O’Hara as Fran Kubelik and Edward Winter as J. D. Sheldrake. The ensemble cast featured Donna McKechnie, Baayork Lee and Kelly Bishop who, alongside Bennett and Avian, would go on to originate A Chorus Line. The musical was a success, nominated for seven 1969 TONY Awards, winning two. The production closed on 1 January 1972. The nation tour launched in the early 70s. New York City Encores! produced a concert version of the show in 1997, starring Martin Short, Kerry O’Malley, Eugene Levy, Dick Latessa and Christine Baranski. 

The West End production was produced at the Prince of Wales Theatre, starring Tony Roberts and Betty, where it ran for 560 performances before closing. The musical was revived on Broadway in 2010 starring Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenoweth, Brooks Ashmanskas and Katie Finneran in a production that was directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford. For this iteration of the show, the Bacharach-David hits ‘I Say a Little Prayer’ and ‘A House is Not a Home’ were added to the score. The revival was nominated for four 2010 TONY awards, winning in the category of ‘Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical’ for Katie Finneran. The last London revival of the musical was in 2017 at the Southwark Playhouse in a production directed by Bronagh Lagan, starring Gabriel Vick as Chuck and Daisy Maywood as Fran. 

Besties, if you haven’t listened to this epic score, you know what to do!

Cast recording available on streaming services. 

FACTS:

Music: Burt Bacharach
Lyrics: Hal David
Book: Neil Simon 
Theatre: The Shubert Theatre
Run: 1 December 1968 – 1 January 1972 ( 1,281 performances) 

TONYS: 

(NOMINATED) Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in Musical – Jill O’Hara, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical – Larry Haines; Edward Winter, Best Direction of a Musical – Robert Moore, Best Choreography - Michael Bennett 

(2010) Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical – Sean Hayes, Best Choreography – Rob Ashford, Best Orchestrations – Jonathan Tunicl.

(WON) Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical – Jerry Orbach, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical – Marian Mercer.

(2010) Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical – Katie Finneran